Alan Graham, farmer and North Down Borough council member, told the Irish press that “the young lady in question was ceasing to be dressed in an appropriate manner” and so he pulled up to the shoot on his tractor and “requested that the filming end at that stage.” He said he’d had no idea who the singer was when she requested to use his barley field for her video, but that someone eventually explained to him that “she was as big as it gets as far as pop stars were concerned. I am a bit illiterate about those issues.”

On a positive note, Graham said that Rihanna came up to talk to him and was very understanding regarding his request that she and her crew stop filming on his land. “She was,” he recounted, “most gracious and we shook hands and we parted on good enough terms.”

h/t Reuters and Daily Mail

Man, an ugly Twitter fight? Ingraham’s going to get enough content for at least four more “OUR CULTURE IS BEING DEGRADED” books.

A few hours after Brown’s appearance on Today, Ingraham was guest hosting The O’Reilly Factor and she laid into the singer with a segment titled “NBC Rewarding Bad Behavior?” in which she showed clips of a producer confronting Brown’s fans with pictures of Rihanna’s battered face. Unsurprisingly, Brown was not thrilled. What is surprising is that he and 50 Cent apparently watch The O’Reilly Factor.

Soon, Ingraham responded:

As of yet, neither Brown nor 50 Cent have continued the fight although their fans have and, considering that Brown’s performance on Friday broke attendance records, it’s clear that there are still a lot of them. A quick look at the response has inevitably turned up everything from calm pleas for forgiveness to violent expletives and threats.

Like all battles between self-righteous TV personalities and troubled, violent musicians, this feud will most likely be beneficial to everyone involved. And that includes, of course, those of us watching from the sidelines.

Below, watch Ingraham’s segment on Brown from last Friday courtesy of Fox News:

Kunis took home the grand prize for agreeing to go to the Marine Corps Ball in November with a soldier who dared asked her out on video (a promise that, as of this morning, she may already be reneging on). At the end of the program, O’Reilly declared her acceptance to the ball “excellent” and wished her and her date much fun at the ball.

And, of course, there’s nothing wrong with applauding her for agreeing to the date– it’s a cute way of her giving back to the troops, and anything that enforces the idea that America’s soldiers deserve to be honored is a good thing. The bizarre thing about the accolade, however, is that it followed a particularly “culture war”-heavy episode of the program, one that opened with Ingraham railing against people like Kunis (though not by name, of course) for leading children astray. O’Reilly’s praise of Kunis’ patriotism below:

Exactly what it is that contributes to the “deterioration of culture” is a moving target, but Ingraham, who had confronted Matt Lauer about Today‘s transgressions yesterday morning, did a good job of touching on the main points: bad parenting, tattoos, Cee Lo Green, the aforementioned lady singers, and a general “sense of entitlement,” as O’Reilly put it, that comes from both the culture and the parenting. O’Reilly told Ingraham that he was “buying into your premise that the culture is deteriorating, and very quickly,” noting that young teen girls “with these giant tattoos on their back” were a serious problem. Ingraham then made the comparison between tattoos and smoking and asked why, exactly, it was that smoking was not okay while getting tattoos was. When Ingraham accused parents of being the biggest problem, O’Reilly added that “a lot of it is driven by the media,” and both agreed that reality TV (Jersey Shore gets a nod, of course) did not help at all– though O’Reilly did not make the tie to Barack Obama that Ingraham attempted. That discussion via Fox News below:

There is much to fault in the discussion Ingraham and O’Reilly indulged in– for one, the fact that O’Reilly makes an immediate jump from the WWII generation to 2011 without noting that much has changed in culture from the late 1980s/1990s to today. Few would argue, for example, that the hit music of that era– NWA and Nirvana come to mind– is somehow more wholesome than Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber. If culture is an indication of illicit behavior, then youth statistics on drug use in 2011 seem to reflect the innocence of our time, as well. Not to mention that one of the songs Ingraham mentions by name, “S&M,” samples the far more explicit 1984 Depeche Mode hit “Master and Servant,” which appears to not have single-handedly ruined the youths of that era despite its controversial message. But this segment’s absurdity is not best illustrated through these facts, but through the shamelessness of this spokeswoman of libertinism who was, somehow, yesterday’s Patriot, Mila Kunis.

It is arguable that no one in America is doing more to “deteriorate the culture” than Mila Kunis. Aside from possibly canceling the date with Marine Sgt. Moore– an affront to the U.S. Armed Forces of Hugo Chavez proportions– Kunis has made a career of her striking beauty in ways that one would imagine Ingraham conservative types should abhor. After a series of comedic appearances and skimpy photo shoots, Kunis got the role of a lifetime alongside Natalie Portman in the Academy Award-winning Black Swan. Sure, the Academy may give the film its blessing, but not only does Kunis sport a tattoo in this film, she also participates in a lesbian sex scene with a known single mother.

She is currently following this up with a film with the institution of marriage squarely in its crosshairs, Friends With Benefits, a film where she has sex with Justin Timberlake to avoid the natural responsibilities of a relationship. Timberlake, you may recall, played the most debauched character in The Social Network and once exposed Janet Jackson‘s nipple to an unprepared audience of impressionable children during the Super Bowl Halftime Show. And, Marine incident aside, Kunis’ publicity appearances for the film have been even more offensive– so offensive, in fact, that her appearance at the MTV Movie Awards with Timberlake was so lewd Bill Maher chided them for their vulgarity.

So what permits Kunis to get away with all this filth while still retaining enough stature to win the “Patriot” title? Is doing something kindly towards the troops a panacea for all moral shortcomings? Would a more openly controversial cultural figure– say, the litany of hip-hop artists O’Reilly has gone to war against– also get a pass if they performed at a USO event or donated money to the families of veterans who lost their breadwinners in Iraq or Afghanistan? Among the many problems with the culture wars, and social conservatism in particular, is that what constitutes appropriate and deviant culture is entirely arbitrary, which makes it one of the few political realms in which the “slippery slope” argument actually works.

If this is the caliber of moral rectitude that O’Reilly will accept in order to be declared an official Factor “Patriot,” then parents today have a lot more to worry about than the corroding influence of Matt Lauer. Or perhaps the culture is just as it has ever been, when Ingraham-types were calling for the prohibition of liquor, the censorship of The Doors, or for Common to be kept away from the White House.

Execs at BET are apologizing today for “human error” that led to an extremely awkward moment at the network’s BET Awards Sunday night. A music fan chosen to announce the viewer’s choice award had a moment of clear on-camera confusion, leading to a most awkward screwup, announcing the right winner, then correcting herself, naming someone else, before yet a third name was announced. The mistake, officials with the awards show explained, may have been caused by a conflict between what was written on the smartphone in the fan’s hand (taking the place of a printed envelope with a winner’s name) and what was written on the teleprompter in the hall.

As The Washington Post describes the moment, it was pure no-nets TV when the show clearly needed a net:

When it came time for lovely Tiffany’s close-up, she looked at her smartphone.

She squinted at the teleprompter.

Tiffany appeared confused – as though they contained conflicting information.

What would Tiffany do?

“And the winner is – Chris Brown?” Tiffany finally said, but without any real conviction.

But, before Brown could walk up on stage to accept, Tiffany corrected herself:

I’m sorry – Rihanna!”

The correct answer, ultimately was Chris Brown, but not before the audience booed and gasped and at least one non-winner strolled onstage.

Watch it here, from CNN:

Fans of reality television, especially shows like Survivor and Apprentice, know that in the last episode finalists are often subjected to the criticism and opinions of all the contestants that were vanquished along the way. Therefore, Trump as master of the Apprentice boardroom, should be aware of this fact better than anyone and might want to get ready for a potential onslaught of celebrity criticism from victims of his past verbal attacks. Many celebrities have enjoyed feuds with Trump, but below are his top ten most high-profile fights, in order of the probability that each celebrity will publicly slam Trump’s effort to become President. Under each picture, relive the war of words and see if you agree with the prediction regarding whether each celebrity opponent might strike back now, during the crucial time when Trump himself might become a contestant.

Vince McMahon vs. Donald Trump (1 of 10)

Next ►

Trump's First Shot: After challenging McMahon to a hair vs. hair match, Trump appeared at Wrestlemania 23 in 2007 and shaved McMahon bald. Trump appeared in the WWE Universe again in 2009 when he "stole" ownership of the wrestling company away from McMahon.

Likelihood of Payback During A Trump 2012 Campaign: Zero. Of all the feuds on this list, this is the only completely fake one. In fact, if Trump does run, don't be surprised if Vince and his former Senate candidate wife Linda come out and endorse Trump's candidacy. After all, Trump's appearance at Wrestlemania led to the event earning the WWE's highest pay-per-view buyrate in its history with over 1.2 million people ordering it.

“I just don’t know why this kid seems to be held to a different standard than anyone else,” O’Donnell tells executive producer Janette Barber on the March 29th edition of her program, to which Barber responds that she can’t help but wonder if race is an issue (O’Donnell addressed the issue only this week as she had been on vacation). “I totally think there is,” O’Donnell replied, “and I also think it’s why he felt he was safer with Robin Roberts.” O’Donnell doesn’t flesh out this point at all other than later adding that she felt “badly” for Chris Brown and “mildly angry” at Roberts while watching her interview with Brown. Given the context, however, it wouldn’t be amiss to interpret it as an accusation of some sort of racial betrayal on Roberts’ part not to go easier on Brown, an accusation that leaves O’Donnell’s further point– which could perhaps have some merit– exposed to all kinds of criticism.

That further point that gets lost somewhere along the Roberts accusation trail she later elaborated on, adding that she did “think that there is a societal paradigm in which you have to be an angel or a thug if you’re a black male.” For this, O’Donnell cites Tupac Shakur as an example of a rapper caught in between the two extremes. That more nuanced argument that there is a history of easily maligning black male stars as violent is one that could be corroborated, especially if the fact pattern being examined is only the story in which Brown throws a chair through a window and everyone panics, or the possible career setbacks Kanye West experienced at grabbing a microphone away from Taylor Swift.

But to leave the domestic abuse issue hanging without addressing what really put the last nail in Brown’s career’s coffin makes it very difficult to take O’Donnell’s sympathy for Brown seriously. Though, before going there, it is worthy of note that rumors of the death of Chris Brown’s career have been greatly exaggerated; his album is currently #1 on the Billboard charts. But the image that really set back Brown’s career had nothing to do with skin color or broken studio– it was this photo of a beaten Rihanna after police found her. Sure, white stars have committed domestic abuse and not gotten anywhere near as much public humiliation as Brown (Charlie Sheen, weird drug-infused performance art folk hero, comes to mind). Had O’Donnell laid that argument on the table, she may have been able to cultivate a meager, albeit respectable, point of defense for Brown. Not addressing the battered elephant in the room does a major disservice to what could, with the benefit of the doubt, have been construed as valid racial/sociological commentary and renders it contrarian blather.

Below is the full audio from Rosie O’Donnell’s radio program:



[h/t Radio Equalizer]

Chris Brown broke a window in a violent tantrum on Tuesday after being questioned about the 2009 assault of then-girlfriend Rhianna. Brown later tweeted: “I’m so over people bringing this past shit up!!! Yet we praise Charlie sheen and other celebs for their bullshit.”

Chris, we praise Charlie Sheen not because he’s assaulted women in the past, but because he’s a tigerblooded warlock who doesn’t have time to waste on the haters. Breaking a window is the opposite of that. By Wednesday, Brown’s temper had cooled, offering an apology in this BET appearance.

Elizabeth Taylor passed away Wednesday at the age of 79. Ironically, the New York Times writer who penned Ms. Taylor’s obituary himself died over six years ago. We took a look at the 100 best photos of the legendary beauty, counted her husbands, and poured over 26 facts you probably never knew about her.

The unstoppable Rebecca Black machine continues to captivate people the world-over. With over 40 million views, Friday has surpassed Lady Gaga’s latest release Born This Way and shows no signs of slowing any time soon. Despite being famous as the song everybody loves to hate, Gaga recognizes Black’ genius. Even Conan O’Brien has jumped on the Friday parody Blackwagon.

>>> NEXT: Victoria Jackson takes on Glee and more!

“As always, we ask questions that are relevant and newsworthy, and that’s what we did in this interview with Mr. Brown,” said an ABC spokesman.

Brown explained later via Twitter that he’s “so over people bringing this past s–t up!!! Yet we praise Charlie Sheen and other celebs for there bulls–t.”

ABC reported the star’s behavior led employees to call police:

Brown stormed off stage and went back to his dressing room. Then he came back down the hall, still backstage, and stopped upon seeing the person who produced the segment. Brown didn’t have his shirt on.
The show’s hair and makeup staff said they had called security because they heard loud noises coming from Brown’s dressing room.
It was then discovered that a window had been smashed in Brown’s dressing room. The thick glass was destroyed.
By the time the smashed window was discovered, Brown and his team had left the building. Paparazzi photos show the singer shirtless outside “GMA’s” Times Square studio.

Watch the GMA interview here, from ABC:

In the meantime: Let’s go all the way tonight. Tik Tok, don’t stop. Tonight we can go a little longer. I wanna be a billionaire. Let the DJ go to play my favorite song. There’s not a thing that I would change. ‘Cause your’e amazing just the way you are. Or, were. Goodbye, 2010.

Songz:
Ke$ha – Tik Tok
Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
Train – Hey, Soul Sister
Katy Perry Featuring Snoop Dogg – California Gurls
Usher Featuring will.i.am – OMG
B.O.B. Featuring Hayley Williams – Airplanes
Eminem Featuring Rihanna – Love the Way You Lie
Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
Taio Cruz – Dynamite
Taio Cruz Featuring Ludacris – Break Your Heart
B.O.B. Featuring Bruno Mars – Nothin’ On You
Enrique Iglesias Featuring Pitbull – I Like It
Young Money Featuring Lloyd – Bedrock
Jason Derulo – In My Head
Rihanna – Rude Boy
Lady Gaga Featuring Beyonce – Telephone
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream
Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are
Mike Posner – Cooler Than Me
The Black Eyed Peas – Imma Be
Jay-Z + Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind
Usher Featuring Pitbull – DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love
Travie McCoy Featuring Bruno Mars – Billionaire
Eminem – Not Afraid
Iyaz – Replay

Follow Rachel Sklar on Twitter at @RachelSklar.

Ciara gets major props for sporting genius designer Givenchy, whose show in Paris last week sent style editors in a frenzy of excitement, but the outfit – I believe it was some sort of jumper – may go down as 2010 red carpet worst. There was too much lace and too many add ons and definitely distracted from the artist’s beauty and the perfection that almost always defines Riccardo Tisci’s line.

While Lea Michele didn’t have a total miss — after all a burst feathers is always a safe bet when trying to be a tad edgier than usual — needing a press agent to check the designer of the mediocre dress you’re wearing is a major red carpet no no. It was Romona Keveza, by the way.

Katy Perry’s Zac Posen nude dress looked like a really good arts and crafts project and the fit caused her to be the unfortunate victim of the always red-carpet-prevalent pancake boob. Mr. Posen, I enjoyed the cut out in the back, but the color and glued on metal discs easily made her fiance the best part of her outfit.

Beyonce’s Stephane Rolland grew on me. It had great contouring, as E! Entertainment’s Jay Manuel noted, and an eye catching Aztec pattern, which we will all be seeing more of thanks to Gucci’s Spring 2010 collection. However, the dress looked incredibly heavy and the zipper seemed unnecessary.

Rihanna’s gorgeous Elie Saab gown was classic and perfectly fitted. Unlike most on the red carpet, she was careful not to over accessorize. The detailed bib of the dress spoke for itself and needed nothing else to take away its thunder. The bottom fell flawlessly and was a refreshing counterpart of the beautifully ornate upper bodice.

Taylor Swift rarely has a red carpet mishap and tonight was no exception. It has been wonderful watching her taste become more defined and less poofy throughout the few years she’s been walking the red carpet. She looked absolutely stunning in her Kaufman Franco sequin dress. It was delightfully sparkly, as per usual for Swift, and really complimented her body. Amazing color and exquisitely thoughtful neckline made her dress one of the evening’s best.

Miley Cyrus looked surprisingly tame tonight in a blue banded Herve Leger mini dress. Her nude lipstick almost threw the entire ensemble off, but I was impressed by her choice, considering her usual red carpet disasters.

And no 2010 Grammys mention can be complete without the anticipated presence of everyone’s favorite Jersey Shore cast member, Snooki. I’m not sure who made her dress, I’m guessing it was some sort of Max Azria piece. The poof-free reality star chose an appropriate purple mini dress for the evening.

“DJ Earworm” has created “2009:United States of Pop (Blame It On The Pop)” from the 25 top Billboard hits featuring Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Jamie Foxx, the Black Eyed Peas, T.I. and Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Jason Mraz, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, Rihanna, Katy Perry, and of course, Lady Gaga. Purists may find it a little musically claustrophobic (aw! Remember Beyoncé in “Halo?” Look, it’s Beyoncé in “Halo” again!). But who cares it’s good fun, sounds great, will get you dancing if you happen to be the sort that frequents such dance-spots (and blames it on the a-a-a-al etc.) and also looks pretty as music videos ought (pretty easy when you’re mashing up other pretty music videos). Plus, what is more “Aughts” than a user-generated new work of art mashed up from previously existing works of art? And really, what is this post if not pretty much, that? Baby, don’t worry. The year’s almost dead and gone, but I got a feeling that you belong with me. Just dance. Use somebody. Now put your hands up. Let’s live it up. Pray it won’t fade away.

Track list can be found here.

ABC hit #1 in the A18-34 demo with 8.2 million viewers for its biggest numbers in that demo of the past 3 years, according to TVNewser. The number’s were also the show’s biggest audience in 7 months.

The segment begins biographically about the singer’s youth in Barbados, but moves quickly onto the budding romance between Rihanna and Brown, two “supernovas” who met when she was 16 and he was 15. “He was definitely my first big love,” she says in the interview. “The more in love we became, the more dangerous we became for each other. Equally as dangerous, because it was a bit of an obsession.”

Rihanna tells the story of a text message from an old girlfriend of Brown’s and her anger over his lies. It escalated to violence and “it was ugly,” she says. “I feel humiliated. I get angry all over again. Every time I see it the whole thing plays back in my head,” Rihanna says about the infamous TMZ photo of her bruised and battered face. “He had no soul in his eyes. Just blank. He was clearly blacked-out. There was no person when I looked at him,” she tells Sawyer.

The intense and extensive interview continues through the public apologies — from YouTube to Larry King Live — detailing the couple’s attempted reconciliation, break up and beyond. Together, Sawyer and Rihanna watch Brown’s stiff online video apology and though the singer claims it is the first time she has seen it, her skepticism is automatic. “He might have been reading off of a teleprompter,” she says. “It sounds like he’s reading.”

In all, the media brouhaha surrounding the relationship and the crime is profoundly sad. Both forwent childhood in favor of fame — a fame they’re now struggling to maintain in the aftermath of a controversy far beyond the grasp of their teenage fans. From Diane Sawyer to Larry King, both seem to be pleading for understanding not only of their tempers, violence and victimhood, but also forgiveness for their immaturity and inability to weather the spotlight. Both have upcoming albums due before the year’s end.

Below is the first part of Rihanna’s 20/20 interview and the rest can be found here.

In much the same way his August Larry King interview didn’t help his reputation, this one isn’t going to do much for him either.

Here’s the first part of the interview, which Hot97.com has done a great job posting in near real-time.

“I feel like I would never have had to have this kind of interview with you,” said Martinez at the beginning. “How should we feel about you? Should we not be mad at you? Why shouldn’t we be?”

“It’s not really a thing of like, how you should feel, I feel like you should just be human, because at the end of the day I’m human,” Brown said. Well – it’s not much of an apology (he got to that a little later), but it sets the stage for his line of crisis control.

Martinez asked if anyone every told him he should never hit a woman:

Martinez: Did anybody tell you that?
Brown: Of course! (pause) It just went bad.
M: How does your family feel about what happened?
B: My dad, he was disappointed in me, but at the end of the day he wanted to make sure he stuck by my side.

Some other quotes:
• “In one moment everybody loves you and in the next they turn their back on you.”

• “I know ya’ll seen me on Larry King and everything with the bowtie…I know everybody wanted to know, and everybody’s still trying to know, what it was, but out of respect for me and my privacy and her definitely, I don’t really talk about it and I don’t want to get into it.”

And how’s this for an apology-
• “At the end of the day I’m sorry for what I did, whatever it is, but only Shorty and me know what it was, what happened in the car.”

For what it’s worth, it sounded much worse on the radio than in print. To top off all the poor PR surrounding Brown’s redemptive push, his single, out today, upstaged Rihanna’s new single, which debuted yesterday.

It’s not an easy road back for Brown – there’s very little he can say to make people feel like it’s time to move on and appreciate his music again. But this seems like, once again, the wrong way to go.

—–
» Follow Steve Krakauer on Twitter

But some of the most talented and influential bloggers still work under the radar. Whether they write for niche audiences or are simply less visible than their more mainstream counterparts, these men and women are the unsung heroes of the blogosphere, known to circles of insiders, but uncredited for the vaster influence they hold.

In this in-depth, magazine-length feature (6500 words!), Mediaite has assembled a list of 25 of the best underrated bloggers you need to know, drawing from a variety of backgrounds, and explained why they matter. You’d do well to learn — and bookmark, and RSS — the names you don’t know already. If they aren’t themselves household names in a few years, the odds are good that they will continue to smartly analyze the news, break stories, serve as role models for others, and put their stamps on the flow of information far beyond the Internet.

Below we’ve designated five themes and selected five up and coming or under-appreciated bloggers in each category, including:

Hidden Hands: The workhorses behind blue-chip sites with tremendous clout who often go unrecognized for their accomplishments as individuals.

Blogs Bloggers Read: Bloggers behind sites worshipped by insiders that mold the shape of the online conversation.

Niche Experts: These are the writers whose areas of focus may not garner them the biggest following, but in music, fashion, cars, business, and food, they’re as good as it gets.

Power Hitters: They may be big names already, but they are somehow still undersold considering the amount of work they put in and the amount of influence they wield.

Reinventors: Bloggers who, rather than resting on their well-deserved laurels for past accomplishments, have continued to innovate and reinvent their editorial presences on the web.

>>>NEXT: The first five top bloggers are the Hidden Hands…

(image via)

Though Brown has since claimed to be the victim of unfair editing, that he would ever try the “don’t recall” tack is highly suspicious, and reeks of an unwillingness to take responsibility. It does, however, put him in a long lineage of American politicians, who use the legally shrewd but morally dubious strategy whenever they want to duck out of a screw-up without setting themselves up for perjury charges further down the road.

Politicians of all stripes tend to be slippery. But given the preponderance of conservatives who’ve used this particular tactic, we have to wonder: is Chris Brown, who criticized the Republican National Convention for its lack of diversity, a closet Republican?

1. Senator Larry Craig

Larry Craig, of course, is the Republican senator from Idaho who was arrested by an undercover officer for allegedly soliciting gay sex in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. When Matt Lauer asked him whether his feet brushed the officer’s, he answered “I don’t know — it was possible. But I don’t recall that.” But give Craig credit: even when police interrogated him right after the incident, he said “I don’t recall” to four different questions.

2. Ronald Reagan

Reagan arguably perfected the “I don’t recall” defense during the Iran-Contra hearings, when he brushed off seemingly every big question about his involvement by saying he didn’t remember the details. As The New York Times records,

”I have to point out that this continued saying of ‘I don’t recall,’ that so many meetings – and I have been told by statisticians that my average of meeting with people was about 80 a day for eight years – that I don’t recall these meetings,” Mr. Reagan said. ”And not because they weren’t important, and I am sure that I dealt with things at the time, but I just – I just don’t recall such a meeting, and certainly not by being able to say on what day it occurred.”

Which is to say: important, busy presidents are too busy to remember if they authorized funneling $30 million to right-wing guerillas via Iran.

3. Bill Clinton

When Clinton was questioned about Paula Jones, his testimony was peppered with “I don’t recalls,” and when he was questioned about Monica Lewinsky, he fired off another “I don’t recall” in response to the question “At any time were you and Monica Lewinsky alone together in the Oval Office?” In fact, for the rest of his grand jury testimony about her he was remarkably firm that he hadn’t had any untoward contact with her — which is what allowed Ken Starr to go after him for perjury. Maybe those waffling answers serve a purpose after all.

4. John McCain

The New York Times story on John McCain’s own untoward contact with lobbyist Vicki Iseman could have been the speed bump that set his presidential bid careening over the edge — but thanks to an overreliance on unsourced quotes, the Times was forced to apologize and correct the article. Still, in light of the evidence, it seemed fishy when McCain was asked during a 2002 ethics deposition if he had ever flown on a corporate jet with Iseman and he said he couldn’t recall.

The season will begin without Burress, a Super Bowl hero, who was sentenced to two years in prison for possessing the handgun with which he shot himself in the leg. And yet it’s widely accepted that he caught a bum rap, showing that the court of public opinion often works antithetically to our justice system. It will be a while before we see or hear from Plax again — he seems harmless, but he’s doing hard time.

And then there’s Vick and Brown, tumbling from their hard-earned pedestals due to violent acts, and yet all but forgiven by the courts. Their parallels are difficult to ignore: both were young, exceptionally talented, and wealthy before committing high-profile, dastardly crimes. But with their repentance tours simultaneously in full effect, who’s the biggest bad guy? Are either of them truly remorseful, and if so, do they have a shot at forgiveness or will they continue to be vilified? We run down their ongoing media narratives below.

Rise to fame

Vick: As a quarterback at Virgina Tech, Vick was as flashy as he was fast. The playmaker’s quick feet lead to a Heisman Trophy nomination and Vick eventually became the first overall selection in the 2001 NFL Draft. That spring, Vick signed a six year, $62 million contract, the largest ever for a rookie at the time.

Brown: Chris Brown released his eponymous debut album at the age of 16, and the record went on to sell two million copies. With quick feet of his own, Brown was touted as a new school Michael Jackson, often paying homage to the King of Pop with his costumes and choreography.

Crimes

Vick: In 2007, a federal investigation into illegal dog fighting activities at Bad Newz Kennels on Vick’s property lead to felony charges of financing an interstate gambling operation, in addition to participating in the dog fights. After his three co-defendents pleaded guilty, Vick followed, though the men “told of how Vick participated in the killing of dogs that didn’t perform well in test fights by shooting, hanging, drowning or slamming them to the ground,” according to ESPN.

Brown: Earlier this year, Chris Brown was charged with felony assault and making threats against his R&B singer girlfriend Rihanna. Although unidentified in police reports, a photo of the battered singer was ubiquitous in the following weeks, while details of the beating included Brown biting Rihanna, slamming her head against the car door and threatening to kill her.

Penance

Vick: Pleaded guilty and eventually served 18 months of a 23 month sentence.

Brown: After initially pleading not guilty, Brown accepted a plea bargain, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to community service, counseling and five years of probation.

Leading attackers in the press

Vick: PETA was steadfast in its condemnation of Vick, even withdrawing its offer to sponsor an anti-dogfighting PSA with the disgraced football star after his release. “Saying sorry and getting his ball back after being caught enjoying killing dogs in hideously cruel ways for many years doesn’t cut it,” said PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk, who also recommended Vick undergo a brain scan and complete psychiatric evaluation.

Brown: Various women’s organizations and agencies against domestic violence spoke out repeatedly against Brown, especially after his light sentencing. Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women said, “Paris Hilton got more jail time than Chris Brown did for beating a woman to a pulp,” while Rita Smith, executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, was quoted as saying, “If we give them a break, we give them a shorter sentence or less consequence, it basically just says this wasn’t such a big deal.”

Road to redemption

Vick: In his first interview upon release, Vick spoke with 60 Minutes, telling the television newsmagazine that he “cried so many nights” over the guilty he felt, and claimed to blame only himself. Yet his repentance was met by some understandable skepticism, as Vick came off something between cardboard and an opportunist — you could almost see the dollar signs in his eyes as imagined another NFL contract. Still, Vick was conditionally reinstated by the league and has since signed a one-year deal (worth $1.6 million) with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Brown: Chris Brown’s first public comment came in the form of a vague YouTube apology that left the performer looking wooden as he baldly read the cold, unspecific statement. After sentencing, Brown may have encountered a stroke of luck when a charming wedding video went viral, featuring one of Brown’s songs which then shot to the top of the iTunes chart. The singer may have squandered that fleeting goodwill, though, as we brace ourselves for his forthcoming interview with Larry King, set to air on Wednesday. In a particularly baffling preview, Brown tells King that he doesn’t remember “doing it,” only to release a statement blaming his amnesia on CNN’s editing.

Verdict

When it comes to his villainous association, Vick is lucky enough to now have most of the Philadelphia faithful on his side, too hungry for a championship to care. Combined with the fact that he served his time and the crime hurt no humans, as soon as the man converts a third-and-short with a nimble QB sneak, the cheers will overpower the rest.

As for Brown, unless tomorrow’s appearance on Larry King Live is shocking in its self-reproach, the young singer has a chokehold on the title of Biggest Bad Guy. Only time will tell if we are truly a land of forgiveness, but sometimes a New York Post cover is hard to forget.

Though the sheer amount of press both Vick and Brown have received reinforces the cult of celebrity, it’s simply impossible to glean too much sympathy as long as details of these gruesome crimes are being reiterated. For all of their talent and contrition, both men are lucky to have any supporters at all; their respective fanbases have weathered a hell of a media storm, quite relentless in its unavoidable negativity. And yet maybe moral considerations are for naught, as it’s likely that regardless of the general public’s forgiveness, both men will have lucrative futures in the entertainment marketplace.

And despite what had to have been heavy coaching, the disgraced pop star comes off looking like a bigger douchebag than before.

Wearing a ridiculous powder blue bowtie and big bling in his ears, Brown is flanked by his mother and his celebu-lawyer Mark Geragos. For some reason, the decision was conveyed for him to express his remorse by claiming he doesn’t remember what happened.

And if he had a pre-planned script for the appearance, he went rogue pretty early on. Here’s an actual transcript of one of his answers:

Brown: I just, when I look at the police reports, or I hear about the police reports I don’t know, I don’t know what to think. I just don’t know what to think. It’s just like, wow.

You don’t know what to think, Chris Brown? Really? How about ‘I need help, because I just beat my girlfriend to the point where her face looked like this.’

Here’s more:

King: Do you remember doing it?
Brown: No.
King: You don’t remember doing it?
Brown: I don’t, I don’t, it’s like, it’s crazy to me, I’m like, wow.

This doesn’t sound like someone particularly remorseful, or even like someone who comprehends the gravity of what he’s done. But it also sounds like someone who just isn’t ready to step back into the spotlight and answer for his crimes.

Over on the Larry King Live blog, the comments are largely, and predictably, anti-Brown. There are those big fans, whose misspelled statements of love for the star show the often incomprehensible truth of our overly forgiving nation – and the powerful cult of celebrity.

Of course, this is just one minute of a lengthy interview, but King provides a generally welcome forum for a person to clear the air and begin the process of rescuing an image. It doesn’t appear like Brown was ready to step up (as he proved last month as well).

> Update: GossipCop.com has proof Brown seemed to have no problem remembering the night in question in an earlier interview. And now Brown is speaking out about CNN’s editing.

Here’s the clip:

Huffington dismisses this argument by e-mail, calling it “silly and highly limiting to assume that all progressives can’t wait to get to the orgy and all conservatives have a chastity belt in their drawer. . . . As the Washington City Paper’s blogger herself points out, we have a wide range of news and opinion on all our sections — including our Entertainment section.

“Looking for hidden political agendas in every article and every photo on HuffPost will lead to some very convoluted conclusions. As Freud said, ‘Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar’ — and a nipple slip is just a nipple slip.”

For those of you who don’t want to waste your time digging around for errant nipple slip, HuffPo in all its non-politically motivated glory, has an entire page devoted the subject. Get your bookmark bar ready, there is a lot more of Megan Fox ‘Celebrity Skin‘ coming your way.